Jos 7:19-26 | KingComments | STEP | If the lot has appointed Achan, Joshua doesn’t ask if Achan did it. It is clear, for God has spoken. But Joshua doesn’t start cursing him, nor does he address him with ‘thief’. It is not appropriate to approach in this way a member of God’s people who is deluded by sin and even hardened. Such an approach reveals a total lack of self-knowledge. Indignation over sin must not lead to a loss of self-control. By addressing Achan as “my son” Joshua lets hear the connection in which he sees himself to Achan. He doesn’t feel better than Achan. Yet sin must be acknowledged and judged. If Joshua urges Achan to give God the honor, it is more a command than a request. God is honored when the whole truth is confessed. Every human being will be forced to do this ( ). In the confession of Achan we see the way on which one comes to sin. It is the old history: seeing, coveting and taking ( ; ; ). The LORD only says that there is stolen ( ), but He does not say what has been stolen. He wants the transgressor to do this. Achan mentions the stolen goods by their name ( ). God does not want a general confession, but He wants us to mention sin by its name. In this way someone is forced to give back to God what he has stolen from Him ( ). What belongs to the LORD, Achan has stolen for himself. Just as it was in wrong hands with Jericho, so it is in wrong hands with Achan. Just like the world, the people of God can also use the things that belong to the LORD for themselves. The Lord gives gifts, abilities. He wants us to use them for Him, to add them to the treasure of the LORD ( ). The sin of Achan can also be found with us. Then we adorn ourselves with what belongs to the Lord, we draw attention to ourselves, seek our own honor, we want to please people and not the Lord. The first thing Achan names, is “a beautiful mantle from Shinar”. His words seem to reveal that even now he still regrets having to return this mantle. Although he does not apologize, there is no evidence anywhere that he regrets his act. This kind of people worries more about the fact that they have been discovered than that they see what they have done. They also have no eye for the harmful consequences that their actions have for others. Pride and haughtiness are connected with Shinar or Babel. We can see that from the city and the tower that was built there ( ). In Babel also lies the origin of idolatry: she is “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” ( ). The term “abominations” refers to idols. The “mantle from Shinar” speaks of a religion that is practiced only for the satisfaction of the flesh. It has a beautiful appearance, but there is no life out of and for God present. We cloth ourselves with a “mantle from Shinar” if we give our religion a beautiful shape that is attractive to people of the world. The second thing Achan names, is silver. The atonement money is half a shekel of silver ( ). Silver refers to the price paid for redemption. In the hands of Achan this means that there is a profession of being saved, while there has been no repentance of sins and no conversion to God. It applies to Christians who presumptuously claim to have been saved by virtue of fulfilling certain institutions, such as baptism and Supper, or by belonging to a certain denomination. The third thing Achan names is a bar of gold or ‘a golden tongue’. Gold represents the glory of God. To ‘a golden tongue’ the thought of speaking about the things of God without the heart having a part in them is connected. Liberal theologians have ’a golden tongue’, but “with their tongues they keep deceiving,” “the poison of asps is under their lips” ( ). It sounds pleasant and biblical to speak of a God of love, but if one does not speak of God as being light, one speaks with a ‘golden tongue’. Achan has “concealed” these things “in the earth”. This speaks of a use of things for oneself, in connection with life on earth, without seeking the rights of the Lord. He resembles the unfaithful slave, about whom the Lord Jesus speaks in a parable ( ). Achan also suffers the fate of that slave, whom the Lord calls “wicked, lazy slave” and also “worthless slave” ( ).

‏ Joshua 7:19-26

Achan Acknowledges His Sin

If the lot has appointed Achan, Joshua doesn’t ask if Achan did it. It is clear, for God has spoken. But Joshua doesn’t start cursing him, nor does he address him with ‘thief’. It is not appropriate to approach in this way a member of God’s people who is deluded by sin and even hardened. Such an approach reveals a total lack of self-knowledge. Indignation over sin must not lead to a loss of self-control.

By addressing Achan as “my son” Joshua lets hear the connection in which he sees himself to Achan. He doesn’t feel better than Achan. Yet sin must be acknowledged and judged. If Joshua urges Achan to give God the honor, it is more a command than a request. God is honored when the whole truth is confessed. Every human being will be forced to do this (Phil 2:10-11).

In the confession of Achan we see the way on which one comes to sin. It is the old history: seeing, coveting and taking (Gen 3:6; 1Jn 2:16; Jam 1:14-15).

The LORD only says that there is stolen (Jos 7:11), but He does not say what has been stolen. He wants the transgressor to do this. Achan mentions the stolen goods by their name (Jos 7:21). God does not want a general confession, but He wants us to mention sin by its name. In this way someone is forced to give back to God what he has stolen from Him (Job 20:15).

What belongs to the LORD, Achan has stolen for himself. Just as it was in wrong hands with Jericho, so it is in wrong hands with Achan. Just like the world, the people of God can also use the things that belong to the LORD for themselves. The Lord gives gifts, abilities. He wants us to use them for Him, to add them to the treasure of the LORD (Jos 6:19). The sin of Achan can also be found with us. Then we adorn ourselves with what belongs to the Lord, we draw attention to ourselves, seek our own honor, we want to please people and not the Lord.

The first thing Achan names, is “a beautiful mantle from Shinar”. His words seem to reveal that even now he still regrets having to return this mantle. Although he does not apologize, there is no evidence anywhere that he regrets his act. This kind of people worries more about the fact that they have been discovered than that they see what they have done. They also have no eye for the harmful consequences that their actions have for others.

Pride and haughtiness are connected with Shinar or Babel. We can see that from the city and the tower that was built there (Gen 11:4 ; 9). In Babel also lies the origin of idolatry: she is “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev 17:5). The term “abominations” refers to idols. The “mantle from Shinar” speaks of a religion that is practiced only for the satisfaction of the flesh. It has a beautiful appearance, but there is no life out of and for God present. We cloth ourselves with a “mantle from Shinar” if we give our religion a beautiful shape that is attractive to people of the world.

The second thing Achan names, is silver. The atonement money is half a shekel of silver (Exo 30:15 ; Exo 38:25). Silver refers to the price paid for redemption. In the hands of Achan this means that there is a profession of being saved, while there has been no repentance of sins and no conversion to God. It applies to Christians who presumptuously claim to have been saved by virtue of fulfilling certain institutions, such as baptism and Supper, or by belonging to a certain denomination.

The third thing Achan names is a bar of gold or ‘a golden tongue’. Gold represents the glory of God. To ‘a golden tongue’ the thought of speaking about the things of God without the heart having a part in them is connected. Liberal theologians have ’a golden tongue’, but “with their tongues they keep deceiving,” “the poison of asps is under their lips” (Rom 3:13). It sounds pleasant and biblical to speak of a God of love, but if one does not speak of God as being light, one speaks with a ‘golden tongue’.

Achan has “concealed” these things “in the earth”. This speaks of a use of things for oneself, in connection with life on earth, without seeking the rights of the Lord. He resembles the unfaithful slave, about whom the Lord Jesus speaks in a parable (Mt 25:18). Achan also suffers the fate of that slave, whom the Lord calls “wicked, lazy slave” and also “worthless slave” (Mt 25:26 ; 30).

Achan Judged

All of Israel is defiled and must now purify itself. That can only happen when all exercise judgment. In the same way, the removal of the evil from the midst of the church is a matter for the whole church (2Cor 2:6 ; 2Cor 7:11b). All are responsible for it; each must act accordingly after personal exercise before God and ask Him how to do things as to their own mind and their own life.

It is good to keep in mind the difference between discipline in Israel and Christian discipline. Christian discipline always has the recovery of the soul in mind. Even if the evil person is to be delivered to satan by Paul, it is “for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus“ (1Cor 5:5). This is a powerful reason to exercise discipline according to the measure of our spiritual strength because we cannot go beyond that. We always have to humble ourselves before God, before and so that evil is removed.

Achan has the stolen stuff concealed in his tent. Because all his family members have to die with him, they will have known about it and therefore become co-responsible. Everything that is connected with Achan is judged. The execution of judgment takes place in the valley of Achor, which is named after this event. Achor means ‘misery’. This is what Achan brought among the people. Achan means ‘he who brings confusion, restlessness’. He was “the troubler of Israel” and brought misery upon the people (1Chr 2:7).

But in Hosea the LORD speaks about how He will give “the valley of Achor as a door of hope” where the people will sing “as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt” (Hos 2:15). Where judgment has been exercised, the door is opened to a hopeful future. In the future God will spiritually bring His people back to that valley. The people will judge themselves, acknowledge their sins and be accepted again by God as His people. Hope is always present where people are aware of their misery and take refuge in the Lord Jesus.

We must fear sin, but let us never fear the bitterness of its discovery, nor the discipline, for from that moment on, God wants to make His blessing flow to us again. If there is faithfulness and obedience, God will never fail to reveal and take away what prevents the blessing of His people.